《The Abyss》


 Chapter 1

    Boom. Boom. Boom.


    The rhythmic sounds of the war drums brought her attention back into focus. All around her were faces contorted with fear. She stood among many others. Conscripts, the lot of them. She was a simple farmer when this all started, working at her family¡¯s farm. A simple life, but one she was content with. All of that changed when the rift opened. At first it was small. Few demons were able to pass through, and the kingdom¡¯s army was able to hold them off. As time went on, and the casualty count of the professionals began to swell, the kingdom was forced to begin conscripting from the general population. Soon however, the rift expanded, and holding the rift became impossible. Now, the kingdom was forced into a final confrontation. A confrontation to decide the fate of the kingdom.


    A rattling drew her attention to her hand. She was shaking. She tightened her hold on the leather grip of her blade in an attempt to stop the twitching. It succeeded in stopping the noise, but it had no effect on the fear she felt coursing through her veins. Atop a horse at the front of the army, a man draped in reds and golds. The Golden Prince, The Lord of War, The Man of a Thousand Battles. He had many names, but the most relevant for this day was, The Undefeated. Such a nick-name was a mockery of the gods she had always believed, and maybe that would be the deciding factor for today.


    Across the plains in which the army was situated, a massive rift was in view. It looked like a scar cutting across the air, the boarders were a dark, menacing green while the center was an opaque black, a portal leading to a land of untold death. The breach had been inactive for several months. If what the rumours said were true, the inactivity was the work of the Wizard of Fates. But, like everything else, the inactivity did not last forever. The rift let off a pulse of energy as the first wave passed through the rift.


    This was the first time she had seen these nightmares. They were small, even from a distance. They probably only stood four feet tall. The foot soldiers of the Abyss. They had an ape-like body, with thick muscles and wiry hair. They charged towards the army, and by extension, at her. Every time they took a step forward, they opened the space behind them. This space was quickly filled by an exact copy of these beasts and the endless army advanced.


    She was not lucky with her placement. Her battalion was near the front of the army, on the left flank. The army was perhaps one hundred thousand strong, and she was on the front lines. The Golden Prince drew his sword and raised it in the air above him. The shining blade caught the sun at an angle and sent out rays of light. He slashed downwards in the air, and the army released hundreds of arrows at the advancing monsters. Some missed, some hit, but it made no real difference. The deceased monster corpses turned into a black tar as another took their place. This was hopeless. And they all knew it.


    I am going to die


    Death. That was what was on her mind as the thumping sounds of the mighty war drums managed to mask the sound of her rattling teeth. She never was a brave person, not even in the end. The only reason she was here on this destined field was mandated conscription, and even that barely got her here. She, like all the other young faces around her, knew death was coming. It stood across from them. Not in the form of any cloaked, scythe wielding figure, but rather in the form of an army of monstrosities. A portal to another dimension. But what did it matter now? She was to be fodder.


    ¡°Jeez, you¡¯d think our last meal woulda been better than stale bread, eh¡±


    I glance to my side, at my friend since childhood. Her long-blonde hair, the antithesis of mine, flowing in the wind unable to be restrained by the leather helmet adorning her head. Even in these circumstances, she still cracked jokes. Although, the way her hand was shaking in her gauntlet, the visage was ineffective.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    She stood in a small battalion, in a small division, on the front lines of the largest battlefield ever recorded in history. The girl, barley eighteen, shifted her grip on her bastard sword. She was still green in combat. And even greener in warfare. A farmer, not but a few months prior. Now a soldier. One who stood in terror of the approaching army. It only took minutes for the advancing monsters to reach them. Previously fired arrows peppered the bodies of the closest monsters. Non-lethal as they were, it did reassure her that they could be wounded.


    The sounds of war erupted around her as the wave crashed down on them. She watched as claws met swords. Blood as black as tar mixed with the red blood flowing from the fallen soldiers. Faces contorted in horror as they were quickly overtaken and mercilessly slain where they stood. She could see the monsters now. There was only three people in between her and them. Out of the corner of the girl¡¯s eye she sees flowing blonde hair charge. The blonde¡¯s sword slashing in whatever direction would bring the death of a demon.


    One of the creatures launched over the front of the line, landing a mere few feet from her location. It snarling face showing a pair of knife-like canines. It eyed her, with a blank nothing in its eyes. It ran at her, the sharp ebony claws forecasting a bloody and painful death. Her sword was out before she could process what was happening. She held it in front of her like her instructors taught her to. When the thing was within striking range, she slashed out with all her might. Her sword met claws as a powerful rattling ran up the blade and into her arm. The vibration was to strong, as her grip loosened enough for the sword to fall and land on the ground.


    It fell close. So close. It wouldn¡¯t even take a second to pick up. But that second would kill her. As the monster seemed to grin viciously. Her most powerful strike had been repelled by the claws of a four-foot tall ape monster. Not only that, but her strongest swing has caused her to drop her blade. Her lifeline. The only thing she had to prevent this monster from killing her. She had nothing left. No way to defend herself or her fellow soldier. She did the only thing she could do. She turned and ran.


    The sprint was quick. Faster than she had ever ran before. She heard screams from behind her. The scream of soldiers dying in droves. She could not be certain if the blonde¡¯s was among them. She did not turn back. She couldn¡¯t. As she ran, she entered the woodlands, the trees offering protection from the sun but not from anything else. Even in here, the sounds of the battlefield haunted her. She could not tell if it was the real battle or just the resounding thuds of terror. Her heart was still pumping too quick. For several minutes she ran. Away from the battlefield, away from the rift, and most importantly, away from the demons. With her adrenaline being higher than ever before, she heard the snap of a nearby twig.


    She turned towards the sound. She had made sure while running that nothing chased her. She should be in the clear. She glanced around, looking for anything to fight with. There was nothing. From behind the trees, a group of demons appeared. Each showing their own razor-sharp teeth and claws.


    ¡®How! How did they get behind the army?!¡¯ She screamed in her head.


    The demons started to advance. Claws glistening. She had ran away from the army into such a worse fate. Once again, she found herself running through the burning of her lungs. Above her, she spotted a hawk resting on a tree branch. It watched her with beady eyes. As the demons got closer, the bird took flight. Disturbed by the noise, but not in fear of death. How she envied that bird. If she could fly, she could get out of the situation.


    Suddenly, her feet stopped finding ground. Had her wish been granted? Instead of rising, she found herself falling. The cruel mistress that was gravity having no mercy for such a wishful thinker. She dropped a foot before finding the steep dirt cliff rushing up to hit her. She rolled down the cliff for what felt like an eternity. The bottom of which appeared to be a chasm. As she rolled for her last time, she found herself falling with nothing to catch her into the chasm.


    There was a dark light at the bottom. It felt familiar, but not in any good way. She fell another ten feet before remembering where she had seen that black and green light before. It was the same colour as the rift. Though clearly smaller.


    ¡®Huh¡¯ she thought ¡®so that¡¯s where they came from¡¯


    Without another thought, she lost consciousness as her body fell into the rift. Disappearing from sight.

 Chapter 2

    She awoke on uneven ground, face down in dark red sand. She placed her hands on the ground beside her and lifted herself up into a sitting position. A stabbing pain resounded through her palms. She winced and examined her bloody hands. The sand had cut her skin. Her blood dripped onto the sand, staining it a darker shade of red. She dusted the sand from her palms. Ground sharp enough to cut skin. Where was she?


    She glanced around, examining her surroundings. She was in the middle of what appeared to be a desert. Jutting out from the sand rose pointed rocks, each coming to a sharp tip some distance from the ground. Hanging high above her head appeared a mockery of the sun. It was a pure black sphere which radiated a dark light that barely illuminated the landscape. It appeared to be dusk, although with the sun being directly overhead it was hard to tell how much light she would have at real dusk.


    She rose from her seated position, careful not to touch the ground with her bare skin. Luckily, she still wore her leather armour which prevented any contact with the sand on her feet. The last thing she remembered was the battle. She shivered at the memory. She had fallen through a rift; the thought came to her suddenly.


    ¡®So this must be¡­¡¯


    As she stood, her weight shifted on her right ankle, which quickly gave way as she found herself falling back to the ground. Her fall splashed sand into her face as a new abrasion lacerated her cheek. She brought her hand to her face, only to remove it mildly bloody.


    By removing her leather calf guard and military designated combat socks, she was able to examine her ankle which was noticeably swollen and turning a reddish-black colour. While she was no doctor, she had seen a few injuries in her time on the farm. Once, a stable boy, whom she may have met with behind closed doors on occasion, had sprained his ankle after falling off a horse, her father had cast it and gave him a walking stick. She looked around, looking for anything which might be able to act as a makeshift splint or stick. Nothing.


    She rose again, much more carefully this time. Making sure not to put any weight on her ankle, she managed to hobble forward. She needed to find something to cast her ankle with but more importantly, she needed to find some drinking water. She wasn¡¯t certain that wherever she was actually had drinking water, but she had to hope. Her throat was already burning from dehydration, and she didn¡¯t feel like leaving this thirst unquenched would help her situation. She chose a direction at random, the overhead sun proving useless at providing directions.


    The black sun remained overhead, blasting an uncomfortable heat onto the dry wasteland. She had been walking for around an hour now. Though it had become unbearable even to hobble on her ankle. Her surroundings remained constant however. The same red sand and sharp rocks blanketed the ground. She had seen no signs of life as of yet. Though she was very mindful of the dangers posed by ape-monsters.


    Her pace began to slow. She had been walking for too long now to continue. As she was about to collapse, both from dehydration and pain, the sand around her started to shift. At first, she panicked, thinking that she had walking into the trap of some sand-dwelling fiend. Then the sand below her began to sink. Eventually, the ground gave way completely and she found herself falling once again.


    She crashed down onto the rocky ground, the hole she fell from hung tauntingly overhead. Well out of reach of the girl. Her dark hair had pooled in front of her face during the fall, protecting it from the sand and rocks. She stood once again, winded, gasping, and aching but prepared to run at the first sign of danger. It was dark, wherever she was. She glanced upwards, towards where she had fell from, only to find the hole, which provided the only light source in the place, to be twenty feet above her head. As she took a closer look, she found that she had fallen into a large cavern of sorts. The ground was a smooth rock floor which gently enclosed an underground pond.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    With the illumination from above, she could see that the pond was several dozens of feet across, an unhealthy coloured brown water corrupted the surface. A colour of water that she would not have dared to think of drinking before. But in as desperate a situation as this was, she was not certain if she was going to get another opportunity to drink any form of water before dehydrating completely. Maybe she could find a way to disinfect the water? She had no wood for a fire, but she could figure something out.


    The girl approached the water, careful to be as quiet as possible. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. It appeared to be a rat-like creature. Only warped in a horrifying way, being almost five times as large with a set of claws that could rend flesh from bone. The rat-thing had no eyes. But it was sniffing the air around it. Searching for a scent. It had clearly been disturbed by her fall. After a few seconds, the rat-thing turned in her direction. It started skittering towards her, fangs bared.


    The girl screamed in alarm. She had no weapon. Nothing to defend herself with. The noise only seemed to encourage the monster as it increased the speed of it assault. It was within ten feet now. She started to back away, but with her ankle she knew she could not get far. The deciding factor in her doomed escape was the cavern wall which appeared behind her, leaving only a snarling beast and its cornered prey.


    The rat-thing came within striking distance and lunged at her, claws extended, execution on its mind. The girl reacted fast, quickly throwing her body out of the way. She was rewarded with the sound of flesh meeting stone as the rat-thing smashed into the wall. Whatever satisfaction she could have garnered however was dashed when the rat-thing rose up again, snarling in frustrated anger. It looked at her with hatred as it advanced. The thing lunged once again. She was too slow to dodge this time, her ankle failing her at the pivotal moment and the rat-thing brought her to the ground.


    It quickly became a ground struggle. She was bigger than the rat-thing, though not by much, and was luckily able to keep its vicious claws away from her vulnerable body by grabbing its disjointed wrists and holding them as far away from her as possible. The thing brought its face down, inches away from her¡¯s, before its neck ran out of extension. She managed to worm her feet under the body of the rat-thing, and by using all the power of a one-hundred-twenty-pound terrified farmgirl she extended her legs with all the force she could muster.


    The rat-thing flew off her, landing a few feet away with a satisfying splash. It had landed in the pond. The water was evidently shallow though, as the rat thing had no trouble touching the bottom. It once again began to approach her, this time with the full intent to kill its convenient meal. She had little options left. She couldn¡¯t run. She couldn¡¯t fight. And she doubted playing dead would help her here. For the second time in her life, she was trapped in a life or death situation, completely out of her depth, as her next decision would decide her fate.


    She found the choice taken out of her hands. From the back of the rat-thing, a spike appeared. It looked like that of a spear tip. The rat-thing¡¯s body was lifted out of the water, and she could see that the spike did not originate from the rat¡¯s body but rather from the whip-like tentacle which snaked out of the pond. Whatever the tentacle came from was hidden beneath the murky depths of the pond. The tentacle began to drag its prey into the water. The rat-thing, now on its last breath looked at her. Beady eyes locking with her own. It still seemed like it wanted to kill her, even as the corpse sank into the deceitful depths.


    She breathed in. Then threw up what little food remained in her stomach. She had almost died. Twice. The rat-thing would have killed her with just a minute more, and far more terrifyingly, she had almost walked right into that tentacle¡¯s reach. If the rat-thing didn¡¯t attack her, she would have drunk from the water, right into reach of whatever horror lay below the surface. She threw up again, unable to keep anything down as she came to terms with just how close to death she had come today.